Recent Articles on Buddhist Information of North America

Vietnam has marked the 40th anniversary of the self-immolation of Thich Quang Duc.
The monk's protest came to symbolise the repression of the US-backed South Vietnamese regime against Buddhism.
The Executive Council of the Vietnamese Buddhist Church and local government officials in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon, attended the memorial service at the An Quang Pagoda. read more »

What Is Amida Buddha?
By Dr. Nobuo Haneda
The concept of "Amida" (i.e., a Japanese form of the two Sanskrit names of a Buddha: Amitabha (Limitless Light) and Amitayus (Limitless Life) is probably the most important concept in Shin Buddhism, the teachings of Shinran (1173-1262). But people often have a shallow understanding of it. Or, worse, they often misunderstand it. read more »

Questions and Answers from an interesting thread on Buddha's Village Forum
Answers from Tom Huston soulplex@aol.com
<< I've just read 'The end of time' by Julian Barbour which presents a fairly convincing theory that time is just an illusion and really the universe is just made up of infinite seperate 'instants', or different configurations of the Universe. read more »

By
DAISETZ TEITARO SUZUKI
Professor of Buddhist Philosophy in the Otani University, Kyoto
[1935]
EDITOR'S FOREWORD
EDITOR'S NOTE
AUTHOR'S PREFACE
GATHAS AND PRAYERS
On Opening the Sutra
Confession
The Threefold Refuge
The Four Great Vows
The Worshipping of the Sarira
The Teaching of the Seven Buddhas
read more »

Glossary
Amitabha(Amida, Amita, Amitayus) Amitabha is the most commonly used name for the Buddha of Infinite Light and Infinite Life. A trans-historical Buddha venerated by all Mahayana schools (T'ien T'ai, Esoteric, Zen ...) and, particularly, Pure Land. Presides over the Western Pure Land (Land of Ultimate Bliss), where anyone can be reborn through utterly sincere recitation of His name, particularly at the time of death. read more »

By Bhikkhu Bodhi
First edition 1984 published as Wheel Publication No. 308/311
Second edition (revised) 1994
Copyright 1984, 1994 by Bhikkhu Bodhi
This electronic edition is offered
FOR FREE DISTRIBUTION ONLY
By arrangement with the publisher.
This text is a gift of Dhamma. You may print this file for your personal use, and you may make and distribute unaltered copies of this file, provided that you charge no fees of any kind for its distribution. read more »

Prostrations
By Lama Gendyn Rinpoche Why do we do Prostrations?
1.The Purification of Pride First of all, we should know why we do prostrations. We do not do them to endear ourselves to somebody else. We do not do them for the Buddha. Such concepts are completely wrong. The Buddha is not a god of this world. We bow down to purify all situations from the past where we did not respect others. read more »

“In Forty years and more, the truth has not been revealed yet.”
Chapter I
Virtues
Thus Have I Heard. Once the Buddha was staying at the city of royal palaces on mount Grdhrakuta with a great assemblage of great Bhikkhus, in all twelve thousand. There were eighty thousand Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas. read more »

The Agganna Sutta
On Knowledge of Beginnings
Thus have I heard. Once the Lord was staying at Savatthi, at the mansion of Migara’s mother in the East Park. And at that time Vasettha and Bharadvaja were living among the monks, hoping to become monks themselves. And in the evening, the Lord rose from his secluded meditation and came out of the mansion, and started walking up and down in its shade. read more »

VIMALAKIRTI NIRDESA SUTRA
Translated by Robert A. F. Thurman
1. Purification of the Buddha-Field
Reverence to all Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Aryasravakas, and Pratyekabuddhas, in the past, the present, and the future.
Thus have I heard:
At one time the Lord Buddha was in residence in the garden of Amrapali, in the city of Vaisali, attended by a great gathering. read more »

(The Diamond Sutra)
This is what I heard one time when the Buddha was staying in the monastery in Anathapindika's park in the Jeta Grove near Shravasti with a community of 1,250 Bhikshus, fully ordained monks.
That day, when it was time to make the round for alms, the Buddha put on his sanghati robe and, holding his bowl, went into the city of Shravasti to seek alms food, going from house to house. read more »

The Amitabha Sutra
Translated into Chinese by Tripitaka Master Kumarajiva
Translated from Chinese into English by J.C. Cleary
Thus have I heard:
Once Buddha was in the land of Shravasti, in the garden of Jeta and Anathapindika. He was accompanied by twelve hundred and fifty great Bhikshus, all of them great Arhats, well known to the assembly. read more »

Chapter I
Discrimination
Thus have I heard:
The Blessed One once appeared in the Castle of Lanka, which is on the summit of Mt. Malaya in the midst of the great Ocean. A great many Bodhisattvas-Mahasattvas had miraculously assembled from all the Buddha-lands, and a large number of Bhikshus were gathered there. The Bodhisattvas-Mahasattvas with Mahamati at their head were all perfect masters of the various Samádhis, the tenfold Self-mastery, the ten Powers, and the six Psychic Faculties. read more »

By Dr V. A. Gunasekara
Introduction
The standpoint adopted here is primarily that of Theravada Buddhism. But most of what is said will be applicable to most other Buddhist traditions. The Theravada tradition, also called the Southern school of Buddhism, is based on texts maintained in the Pali language, which are the oldest of the existing Canons of Buddhism and reputed to be the closest to the teaching of the Buddha himself. read more »